My offering so small, incomplete
and stained with tears
Is embraced by this moment
by the songbird
A wide open place
for a heart
imperfect and broken
But welcome and given
room to be just what it is
This, the place of
peace, of true love.
– Lisa Ernst
Blackbird in Lotus – photography by Lisa Ernst
First blooming in the Western Paradise,
The lotus has delighted us for ages.
Its white petals are covered with dew,
its jade green leaves spread out over the pond,
And its pure fragrance perfumes the wind.
Cool and majestic, it raises from the murky water.
The sun sets behind the mountains
But I remain in the darkness, too captivated to leave.
– Ryokan
Lotus at Reelfoot Lake
photography by Lisa Ernst
At twilight I caught
a flash of yellow light
The firefly blinked and vanished
Alert, I watched for more
But only one
brought the dusk
alive with its light
Memories from childhood
when evening hills glimmered
with countless fireflies
Pure magic
Now few, they share a fate
with bees and frogs and birds
So sad that single
lonely light
brought a tear
as I settled into dusk.
Dusk at Reelfoot Lake
photography by Lisa Ernst
The monkey is reaching
For the moon in the water.
Until death overtakes him
He’ll never give up.
If he’d let go the branch and
Disappear in the deep pool,
The whole world would shine
With dazzling pureness.
Hakuin
Yellow Leaf
Photography by Lisa Ernst
This human form repeats itself
born again and again in numbers beyond count.
A pineapple has needles and fronds and is juicy sweet inside,
how many have graced this world since the first one dropped to the ground?
Trees, flowers, insects and animals repeat themselves
endless reproduction, yet a mystery at the core.
Science tells us how, but can’t get to the rood of why.
Its a a gift of our life
this endless repetition of what we need to live.
Without the trees, the flowers, the bees and the fruit, we die.
Yet the sun in our world doesn’t repeat itself
it doesn’t birth new suns — all we need is one.
What is always here, with us now
undying
what doesn’t repeat itself?
– Lisa Ernst
“Every day priests minutely examine the Dharma and endlessly chant complicated sutras.They should learn how to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon.”
~~ Ikkyu
This moment of joy is an owl’s perfect song
Again and again each time the same
How does it know to sing just this way?
The thought like the owl can’t be caught and held
It drifts on its way but the joy remains.
An open heart leaves nothing outside
receives all yet holds none
so owls can sing and then fly away.
– Lisa Ernst
The moonlight through the trees
enters the room where I sit
and casts shadows across the floor.
It beckons me to be still,
and love just what it gives
in its fleeting time before dawn.
In this moment, still and silent
only the moon
can speak to my heart,
reveal my true nature
without even a word.
– Lisa Ernst
This morning I fell
into a well of silence.
Not a push, not a jump,
just a breath and an instant
and all is still
like a snow covered morning
at first light.
Before the mind stirs
Before the heart wants
something else
this silence
enters me, washes me away
into the joy of this
undying moment.
– Lisa Ernst
A sliver of moonlight
against a slate sky
wakes me up
offers no words
but pierces my heart
breaks it open,
tears, silence.
A screech owl
penetrates the stillness.
Then another,
back and forth they shriek
then silence, tears dry.
The moon fades
as dawn lights the sky.
The Lotus Blooms in The Mud 